OPINION
Robbie Savage must have his head in his hands after Manchester City cruised past West Ham in a 4-0 victory on Saturday after his bold summer claim about Lucas Perez.
The outspoken pundit not only claimed that the 30-year-old attacker could be the bargain buy of 2018 in his column for the Daily Mirror in August but predicted the Hammers to finish eighth in the table as well.
At the time and even more so in hindsight, it was very bold of Savage to publicly back the signing of Perez in the way that he did as the Spanish forward hadn’t exactly excelled in the Premier League with Arsenal ahead of joining.
And it seems that after 13 matches played in the league this season, Savage should already be regretting his prediction.
Perez made his eighth appearances for the Hammers on Saturday as he replaced Felipe Anderson in the second half of the match with Man City at the London Stadium.
While some may say it’s harsh to judge the attacker on his cameo appearance, given that he entered the game when Pep Guardiola’s side had taken their foot off their pedal due to having a comfortable lead, he should have made more of an impact.
Perez didn’t look willing to put the work in by chasing down the ball whenever possible against Man City and was sloppy in the few moments he found the ball at his feet.
The attacker has hardly made a notable impression in his other outings either with him only being able to score while featuring for the Hammers in the EFL Cup.
Given that Liverpool signed Xherdan Shaqiri for just £13million (Source: BBC Sport) and he is tearing it up for them after forcing his way into Jurgen Klopp’s first-team, he is the true definition of a bargain buy.
While the Hammers only paid £4million for Perez (Source: BBC Sport) it looks like having been a waste due to the player’s lacklustre outings and the fact that Manuel Pellegrini seems to avoid using him whenever possible.
Therefore given that Perez’s display against Man City was arguably his worst yet unless their is a dramatic turnaround, Savage is no doubt regretting his bold summer claim.
